IRA,
TEXAS

Suggested slogan:
"We could be famous for where President Benjamin Harrison's son was
killed by Indians, but we didn't want to profit from a tragedy."
Scurry County, West Texas / Panhandle
State Hwy 350 and FM 1606
13 miles SE of Snyder
36 miles NE of Big
Spring
Population: 250 (1990)

Before Ira became Ira, it was a campground for Captain R. B. Marcy's
Expedition (see Big
Spring). Marcy was charged with opening a wagon trail to California
in 1849. One of Marcy's Lieutenants was Mongomery Harrison, son of
President Benjamin Harrison. Our source (Little Towns of Texas)
was short on information, but did say that Marcy's camp was in a Chinaberry
grove at a creek.

We later learned from our "most reliable source" in Big
Spring, Mr. Doyle Phillips, that Mongomery had been ordered to
scout the area, but it was assumed he would take a group of men with
him. Instead he went alone. His body was found the next day, stripped
and scalped. The tracks and other indications pointed to Kiowas. The
corpse was packed in lime and charcoal and was shipped back to Ft.
Smith, Arkansas.

The
Ira Cemetery
Photo Courtesy Charlene Beatty Beauchamp

To
add some sadness to the story - Lt. Harrison had met a young woman
heading west and they had become engaged. The marriage was to take
place when her family reached their destination of California. This
adds to the mystery of why Lt. Harrison would ride out alone (or
with the prospect of marriage looming - it perhaps explains it).

A
former residence of Ira Photo Courtesy Charlene Beatty Beauchamp

We were unable
to verify a date for the town's founding. But Harrison's death occuried
on October 7th, 1849. However, Ira celebrated their centennial
in 1976, which should mean something.

Ira Green was this
town's namesake. Mr. Green went into business here sometime in the
early 1890s. His wagon broke down while he was traveling from
Colorado, Texas to someplace
west of Colorado. (Colorado didn't add the "City" to its name until
1939). When Ira unloaded his wagon to make repairs, the merchandise-starved
settlers came and bought him out. He went back to Colorado and loaded
up his wagon again, and sold out again - without having to break a
wheel this time.

Ira's
Gin
Photo Courtesy Charlene Beatty Beauchamp

He
then decided to open a store. As in most towns, the store soon became
a hub of activity and in Ira's case, the store also became a stagecoach
stop and mail drop. 1893 was the year the first school was opened
and the post office came in 1896. Naturally Mr. Green became postmaster.
Since there already was a Greenville,
the name Ira was submitted and accepted.

A
former gas station in Ira
Photo Courtesy Charlene Beatty Beauchamp

Scurry
County's first oil well came in about a mile south of Ira in the early
1920s. Overnight it became one of the largest oil fields in the world,
according to local sources.

Pumpjack
City
Photo Courtesy Charlene Beatty Beauchamp

The
1990 census is half of what it was in 1980, and while we await the
results of the 2000 census, we'll report the 1990 findings of 250
people.